The women's basketball team played their final game of the fall semester on Saturday. The team's final regular season game of the 2022 year came against the other Lady Bulldogs of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), Union College.
Union led early in the contest. Mikalee Martin tied the game early with her layup and Cambree Mayo's three-pointer cut the deficit to one with the score 6-5. The opponents scored nine straight points to put TWU in a double-digit hole with 3:53 remaining in the first quarter. A 14-3 run over the remainder of the quarter gave the Lady Bulldogs a 19-18 lead to begin the second quarter. A series of three-point sequences, three-point jumpers by Alexis Bates and Yeika Jimenez Diaz, and a three-point play by Jacelyn Stone, along with a Stone layup, and Jordan Wright three-pointer, gave Tennessee Wesleyan the one-point advantage to open the second quarter.
The offensive momentum stayed with the Lady Bulldogs in blue. Thirteen of the first 14 points were scored by the combination of Mayo, Wright, and Abbey Barr, giving the team a double-digit, 32-22 advantage. TWU continued to lead throughout the quarter, with Jimenez Diaz and Martin scoring to make the lead 37-27. Stone and Wright scored back-to-back layups to make the lead 41-29 at halftime.
Back-to-back three-point jumpers by Mayo and Wright out of the halftime break moved the team's lead to 47-31. A layup and succeeding free throw by Stone propelled the team to the 50-point mark, making the advantage 14 points. Union kept trying to claw back, cutting the lead down to ten points on two different occasions in the third quarter. Bates scored on consecutive possessions to help the team take a 56-46 advantage into halftime.
Mayo, Jimenez Diaz, and Wright scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, moving the lead to 17 points. The lead stayed in favor of the Lady Bulldogs who took their largest lead of 18 points on a Wright layup which made the score 68-50 with 5:22 remaining in the game. A layup by Barr and a three-point play by Jimenez Diaz got Tennessee Wesleyan to the final score they went on to win by, 73-57.
Wright led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds. Mayo (13), Stone (12), and Jimenez Diaz (10) also recorded double-digit scoring for the Lady Bulldogs.
TWU (7-4, 5-4 AAC) is done with the regular season for the remainder of the 2022 year. The team will play two exhibition games before returning to regular season play on January 3, 2023. The first of the two exhibitions is on Tuesday against NCAA Division I opponent Tennessee Tech University. The game in Cookeville is set to tip off at 12:00 p.m. EST.
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